Receptacle for ice manufacture



Jan. 31, 1933. G. F. WHITEHEAD RECEPTACLE FOR I C E MANUFACTURE Filed Jan. 13,4952

"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII W/zz'iehead Patented Jan. 31, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GEORGE 1*. wHrrEHEAnoF SIOUX oI'rY; IowA- REGEPTACLE ron ICE MANUFACTURE I Application filed January 13, 1932. Serial No. 586,432. I

serious difficulty of farmers and others in rural districts to secure ice during the warm summer months and has for its purpose the provision of a simple and novel container of the type'specified which will be capable of utilization by anyone with the aid only of an ordinary storage ice house. My invention maintains all of the hygienic qualities of modern manufactured ice while being produced individually at the home of the user without any equipment except the containers which not only afiord the medium for holding the liquid for freezing but materially 5 aid in insulating the ice cakes during storage.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure l is a perspective view showing the method of storing ice in accordance with my invention;

Figure 2, a detail sectional view of two of the ice filled containers showing the mode of mounting one upon the other;

Figure 3, a cross-sectional View taken through one of the containers showing the same with water therein; and I Figure 4, a detail sectional view of one corner of the container showing means providing for the expansion of the water during freezing.

A very serious problem is found to exist in rural districts, especially on farms having no pond from which ice blocks may be cut in freezing weather, in obtaining and storing ice for use in the warmer months. My'invention is therefore directed to the provision of means whereby this difliculty is overcome and has for its general concept to make this means of such simplicit that the same may be practiced by an individual whether skilled or not.

r to confine the water within the container, but

The containers are made from -a cheap fibrous stock, the only prerequisite being the capability to hold water and are preferably formed with an open top." In storing the'con- ,tainers with the ice therein, they are stacked one upon another, so that the bottom of each 'acts as atop for the one immediately below andthe sldes insulate one cake from another,

thus serving not only'to' prevent the ice from I melting, but facilitating the -separation of individual cakes from the stack. l

With reference to the accompanying drawmg I have shown 1 the several containers 10 of rectangular form p'rovided with sides 11 and a closed bottom portion 12. These con- 6 tainers as stated hereinbefore must necessarily be water tight and may be constructed of comparatively inexpensive materials such as fibrous paper stock. To aid inthe non- V 0 porosity of the materials used in the containers the same may be coated with wax or some similar material and when wax is used, this acts as a medium to prevent the several containers when stacked from freezing one to the other. It is of course obvious that the 1 wax will also aid in the separation of any one container from the storage stack. Ipref erably form the containers 10 with an open top 13. r p f.

In producing the ice cakes within the container, the most economical way for people in rural districts is to fill the same with water V to a certain level and then place the container in a freezing temperature. It is known that water expands a certain amount when formed into ice and I have thus, as shown in, Figure 3, determined a certain level for the water to compensate for this expansion and to pro vide ice within the entire inside dimenson of the container upon freezing. The containers as manufactured may be provided with suitable marking or scoring as at 14 to indicate the proper level of the water. In Figure 4 I have shown as a modification a section of a container provided with means automatically compensatingfor the expansion of water during freezing. These means consists merely in providing the sides of the container 15 with recesses 16 which will serve permit lateral expansion upon the freezing of the water. These recesses are calculated to adepth to compensate for the amount of such expansion and the resulting cake of ice will be a true cube. 7

As previously stated each of the several containers. l0.-,are provided Withopen tops 13 and in the storing of the ,ice containersthey are placed directly one upon the other. Hence, as Will be seen from an inspection of Fig. 2, the bottom 12of'eachcontainer-forms I an insulating seal for the top of the ice cake in the container immediatelybelow. "If'de sired, certain of thecontainers 10 maybe provided with separate or'integrally con-v z-nected Etop pieces 17, these being especially e 413836111 in the uppermost layer of containers when stacked for storage and serve to prevent-i contact of the storage insulating mate- ;rial such-as-straw,-saw-dust and thelike'from ,comingt-into contact with the: ice.

.I-claim: v r i ,Areceptacletfor freezing Water therein and gfacilitating the storing. of. resulting ice, said areceptaclehaving an-opentop and thesides of the receptacle: each being dished from'rad- -jacent. corners and bottom edge of v the :recep- :tacle\Witheach corneredge of the receptacle constituting: a common edge of 'the' dish formatlons of adjacentsidestopermit lateral exrpansionofithe receptacle during the process of freezing its contents. I r p ,In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

GEORGE-F. WHrrEHEAD 

